Subject
Miller's Thumb and the Delta of Venus
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Date
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EDITOR'S NOTE. NABOKV-L thanks Mark Bennett for this informative item.
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-------- Original Message --------
From: Mark Bennett <mab@straussandasher.com>
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Re: Miller's Thumb and Nin.
I glanced through a copy of "Delta of Venus" the other day and learned
only the following: "Delta of Venus" is not a volume of Nin's diaries,
but a collection of "erotica" that she penned for the cash. One the
first pieces in the book involves a character named "Millard," and he
and the female narrator have a digital/genital tussle, but the thumb
plays no prominent role. It's pretty silly stuff and would likely have
drawn VN's amused disdain, had he read it. The copyright of the volume
is 1969, renewed 1977, so it appears to fit in the applicable time
frame. However, I still seem to recall a passage from Nin's diaries
that discusses Henry's Miller's thumb in some erotic context. Gore
Vidal alludes to this in a essay on VN's old friend and antagonist
Edmund Wilson's diaries from the 1930's. Apparently there is a passage
in that volume in which Bunny writes admiringly of his own "large, pink
prong"; Vidal will have none of that, and ripostes: "Surely Anais Nin
thought it short and puce, or was that Henry Miller's thumb?"
("This Critic, and This Gin, and These Shoes" in Vidal's collection
"United States".) Of course, Vidal was on intimate terms with Nin, so
perhaps he was relating a personal communication; but I doubt this. In
any event, Nin's diaries are voluminous and I can't imagine VN wasting
much time on them, and further research is probably pointless. Dr.
Schuman's suggestion may be the more likely source of "Miller's Thumb,"
particularly as it permits the implied tailor/mailer rhyme - a typically
clever touch.
-----Original Message-----
From: D. Barton Johnson [mailto:chtodel@gte.net]
Sent: Friday, March 01, 2002 10:30 AM
To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
Subject: Looking for books
EDITOR's MESSAGE.
Since we are on the subject of finding books, two notes from your
editor:
1. I am still looking for Annapaola Cancogni, "The Mirage in the Mirror
(Garland: New York, 1985)
2. Can it really be that no one out there has a copy of Anais Nin's
"Delta
of Venus" and can find a salacious moment to check on Miller's thumb?
--------------------------------------
-------- Original Message --------
From: Mark Bennett <mab@straussandasher.com>
------------------
Re: Miller's Thumb and Nin.
I glanced through a copy of "Delta of Venus" the other day and learned
only the following: "Delta of Venus" is not a volume of Nin's diaries,
but a collection of "erotica" that she penned for the cash. One the
first pieces in the book involves a character named "Millard," and he
and the female narrator have a digital/genital tussle, but the thumb
plays no prominent role. It's pretty silly stuff and would likely have
drawn VN's amused disdain, had he read it. The copyright of the volume
is 1969, renewed 1977, so it appears to fit in the applicable time
frame. However, I still seem to recall a passage from Nin's diaries
that discusses Henry's Miller's thumb in some erotic context. Gore
Vidal alludes to this in a essay on VN's old friend and antagonist
Edmund Wilson's diaries from the 1930's. Apparently there is a passage
in that volume in which Bunny writes admiringly of his own "large, pink
prong"; Vidal will have none of that, and ripostes: "Surely Anais Nin
thought it short and puce, or was that Henry Miller's thumb?"
("This Critic, and This Gin, and These Shoes" in Vidal's collection
"United States".) Of course, Vidal was on intimate terms with Nin, so
perhaps he was relating a personal communication; but I doubt this. In
any event, Nin's diaries are voluminous and I can't imagine VN wasting
much time on them, and further research is probably pointless. Dr.
Schuman's suggestion may be the more likely source of "Miller's Thumb,"
particularly as it permits the implied tailor/mailer rhyme - a typically
clever touch.
-----Original Message-----
From: D. Barton Johnson [mailto:chtodel@gte.net]
Sent: Friday, March 01, 2002 10:30 AM
To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
Subject: Looking for books
EDITOR's MESSAGE.
Since we are on the subject of finding books, two notes from your
editor:
1. I am still looking for Annapaola Cancogni, "The Mirage in the Mirror
(Garland: New York, 1985)
2. Can it really be that no one out there has a copy of Anais Nin's
"Delta
of Venus" and can find a salacious moment to check on Miller's thumb?